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Document Abstract

Intergenerational income persistence within families (IFS Working Paper W17/11)

Explores the relationship between the income of parents and their children and its impact on social mobility, drawing on analysis of data from two national birth cohort studies. Explains that there is substantial evidence of a significant relationship between parents' income and sons' earnings in the UK, and that this relationship has strengthened over time. Identifies three additional trends in social mobility relating to family income: partnership, and the level of earnings from any partner, are increasingly related to family background; the progressive direct tax and benefit system in the UK acts to offset intergenerational income persistence; and men from higher-income backgrounds are significantly more likely than those from lower-income backgrounds to be in paid work and hence have higher incomes.